Automatic control for switching cars on and off mine cages



Jan. 16, 1940. H 2,187,100

AU'EOMATIC CONTROL FOR SWITCHING CARS ON AND OFF MINE CAGES Filed April .18, 1938 Patented Jan. 16, 1940 .y I I s v Q 2 187,100

UNITED STATES PATENT FF1E,

AUTOMATIC CONTROL FOR *SWITCHIN CARS ON AND' OFF-MINE GAGES- 7 Karl Ruhl, Unna-Konigsborn, Germany Application April 18, 1938, Serial No. 202,813

' In Germany April 24, 1937 Claims. (01. zit--95) The invention relates to apparatus used in connection with mine-cages into which cars or wagons enter on one side and pass out at the other,. the apparatus serving to effect stoppage of the entering cars in the correct position in the cage. This is now generally done by means of an appliance inside the cage, controlled from outside the shaft, and such appliance must be sufliciently robust to resist the thrust of heavy cars, so that its weight is substantial and adds considerably to the load to be lifted. Moreover, control of an appliance inside the cage from outside the shaft involves the use of mechanism which is neither very simple nor convenient.

According to my invention these disadvantages are overcome by arranging that the stoppage of the entering cars inside the cage is effected by temporarily checking the run of the issuing cars so that the tail end of the latter, before passing out of the shaft, serves as an abutment for the cars which are inside the cage, this operation of checking the run of the issuing cars being effected by mechanism outside the shaft.

This mechanism may with advantage be controlled by the mechanism which pushes the cars into the cage, for example by means of a valve which controls the supply of compressed air to a cylinder on the exit side of the shaft so that when the cars to be raised or lowered have been pushed in a piston actuates a stop which checks the run of the issuing cars for a suflicient length of time to make their tail end act as an abutment, whereupon the piston returns the stop to its inoperative position and at the same time actuates a driver which propels the issuing cars so that their tail end is fully withdrawn from with such hinged tracks, is that though the cage may stop at different levels, requiring the track sometimes to be fairly steep, the temporary stoppage of the cars causes the outward run to be more uniform than would otherwise be the case. An embodiment of the invention is shown by way of example in the accompanying drawing. Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic elevation showing my invention.

Fig. 21s a detail sectional view of the fourway valve and its connection with the thrust bar.

The drawing'shows two cars is, Z in the cage, and 'two cars m, n which have been pushed out of the cage and stopped in a position where the 5 tail end ofthe car n, still in the shaft, forms an abutment forthe car It, whereby the rear wheels of the cars is, l are prevented from over-running the positioning slats 9' in the cage.

The thrust bar 12 whereby the cars are pushed into the cage controls a four-way valve a so that when the bar pushes the cars in, the valve allows compressed air to flow through a pipe (I to one end of a cylinder 0 having a piston therein, and when the bar is retracted the valve 15 allows air to flow through a pipe 2 to the other end of the cylinder. By air from the pipe 01 the piston is moved to the right, so that ahead 1 on its rod swings a stop lever into upright position between the track rails in front of the front axle of the car m, thus stopping the cars in the position shown. Admission of air from the pipe e moves the piston back and causes it to pull to the left a draw bar g connectedto a driver 1, so

that the latten acting on the rear axle of the car 11., pushes the cars m, 12 clear of the shaft. The driver 2' is pivoted so that when cars are pushed out of the cage their axles can tilt it and clear it. The bar b is connected in'any suitable way with the lever a of the valve a, as for example, by a known pin and slot connection I) (see Fig. 2). It should be understood that the valve a is located far enough from the mine cage and shaft so that it will be actuated at proper times to effect the operation to bringthe stop I:

' into elevated position before an approaching car can reach it.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Apparatus for controlling theentry of cars 40 into a mine cage, comprising in combination a thrust device for pushing cars intothe cage and mechanism located wholly outside the cage and mine shaft and controlled by said thrust device whereby cars upon issuing from the cage are temporarily stopped in position to act as abutment for the entering cars, thereby stopping the latter in the position they are to occupy in the cage.

2. Apparatus for controlling the entry of cars into a mine cage, comprising in combination a thrust device for pushing cars intothe cage and I whereby cars upon issuing from the cage are term porarily stopped in position to act as abutment for the entering cars, and are then given a thrust whereby they are caused to continue their travel.

3. Apparatus for controlling the entry of cars into a mine cage, comprising in combination a thrust device for pushing cars into the cage and pneumatically actuated mechanism located wholly outside the cage and mine shaft and controlled by said thrust device whereby cars upon issuing from the cage are temporarily stopped in position to act as abutment for the entering cars, thereby stopping the latter in the position they are to occupy in the cage.

4. Apparatus for controlling the entry of cars into a mine cage, comprising in combination a thrust device for pushing cars into the cage and mechanism located wholly outside the cage and mine shaft and controlled by said thrust device whereby cars upon issuing from the cage are temporarily stopped in position to act as abutment for the entering cars, thereby stopping the latter in the position they are to occupy in the cage said pneumatically actuated mechanism including a piston, a stop lever actuated by movement of said piston in one direction so as to form a resilient buffer stopping the issuing cars, and a driver actuated by movement of said piston in the opposite direction so as to make the issuing cars resume their travel.

5. Apparatus for controlling the entry of cars into a mine cage comprising in combination a thrust device for pushing cars into the cage, a hinged rail track section, adjustable to the level of the cage, for cars issuing from the cage, and mechanism located wholly outside the mine shaft and the cage and controlled by said thrust device whereby cars upon issuing from the cage are first stopped in position to act as abutment for the entering cars and are then re-started, said mechanism controlled by said thrust device including a piston, a stop lever moved into the stop position by movement of said piston in one direction, and a driver and a hinged draw-rod connecting the same to said piston whereby said 20 issuing cars are re-started by movement of said piston in the opposite direction.

KARL RUTH. 

